


A Sick Little Bunny

by BookGirlFan



Series: Children of Watership Down [6]
Category: Watership Down - Richard Adams
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Bigwig is everyone's big brother, Gen, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 06:24:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6184132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookGirlFan/pseuds/BookGirlFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hazel gets sick. Fiver panics. Bigwig has to hold it all together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sick Little Bunny

"Bigwig?" Pipkin whispered, shaking the older boy's shoulder. "Bigwig, Hazel isn't waking up. Fiver and I don't know what to do, Bigwig."

Bigwig batted Pipkin's hand away, not opening his eyes. "It's still early, Pipkin. Who would want to wake up at this hour?"

"Hazel does! He always wakes up when we bounce on the bed, always! But this time he isn't. What do we do, Bigwig?"

Finally, something in Pipkin's voice got through to Bigwig, and he blearily opened his eyes, turning over to look at the distraught boy. "He's probably just tired, Pipkin. He was out for hours yesterday, remember?" Bigwig certainly did. 

For some reason, Hazel had decided that spending three hours outside in the rain was a wonderful idea, and had returned dripping wet and shivering, whereupon Bigwig had yelled at him for being an idiot until the other boys had come running to find out what was going on. Even then, Hazel refused to say a word of what he had been doing to be out in the rain so long, and Bigwig had known better than to try and call him out on it in front of the others. 

Pipkin shaking his shoulder again jogged Bigwig from his memory. "It's not like that, Bigwig! Hazel always wakes up, always, even when he's been playing with us all day! Now he won't, he's not waking up!"

"Fine, I'll check it out," Bigwig relented, reluctantly pulling the covers back and getting out of bed. "But I'm telling you, I'll probably walk in there and Hazel will already be awake telling you you shouldn't have bothered. And then I'll be going back to bed, and you-" He walked into the room Hazel and Fiver shared and stopped short. 

Hazel had not woken up. In fact, he looked very far from awake in that moment, tossing and turning, his cheeks bright with fever. Fiver was curled up next to him on the bed, looking frantic, trying to talk him into waking up, but it didn't appear to be having any effect. 

"Quickly," Bigwig snapped, hurrying over to the bed. "Pipkin, get Mr Frith. Fiver, wet a cloth or something. He's too hot, we need to cool him down."

Pipkin nodded fearfully and raced off. Fiver stayed where he was, eyes not moving off his brother's flushed face. 

"Fiver!" Bigwig shouted. "Pull it together, would you? We need to get Hazel cooled down now!"

"What's wrong with Hazel?" Dandelion asked. Somehow, without Bigwig noticing, Dandelion and Acorn had woken up and started standing in the doorway. 

"He's sick, that's what," Bigwig snapped. "Either help or go back to bed, you're no use standing around." He looked more closely at them. "Where's Blackberry? He normally knows all kind of stuff, doesn't he?"

Acorn rolled his eyes. "Good luck getting Blackberry up this early. He doesn't just sleep like a rock, he sleeps like the entire cliff!"

"Acorn's right, he'll never wake up-"Seeing Bigwig open his mouth to yell some more, Dandelion hastily continued, "-but we'll do our best. Come on Acorn, let's go." He left, dragging an unwilling Acorn after him. 

"What if he's dying?" Fiver whispered. Bigwig turned back to him to see him still lying beside Hazel on the bed, looking at his brother's flushed face. "He promised he wouldn't leave me, Hazel, you promised you wouldn't leave."

Bigwig put a hand in the boy's shoulder. "He's not dying, Fiver, he's too stubborn for that. Besides, he'd never leave you alone. You just need to help him get better, so everything can go back to normal."

Fiver nodded, finally taking his eyes off his brother to look up at Bigwig. "What should I do?"

"Get some cloths, wet ones. He's too hot, we need to cool him down."

Fiver nodded again, running to the bathroom. Bigwig stayed by the bed, starting to strip back the blankets in an attempt to cool Hazel down. 

"F'v'r? C'ld," Hazel mumbled, the first sign of awareness Bigwig had heard from him since he entered the room. 

"It's Bigwig, Hazel," Bigwig told him. "Wake up now, mate, you're scaring the little ones."

Hazel frowned faintly. "T'r'd. C'ld." He tugged ineffectually at the blankets. "F'v'r?"

Fiber came back into the room, carrying some wet cloths. As soon as he saw his brother was at least semi-conscious, however, he raced over to the bed, dumping the cloths by the bed as he got on the bed beside his brother. "Hazel? Hazel, wake up!"

Hazel's frown deepened. "Fiv'r? You 'kay?" He tossed his head as though looking for his brother. 

Fiver shook his head frantically. "I'm not okay, Hazel, wake up!" In reply, Hazel tossed and turned more, though still did not open his eyes. Fiver turned to Bigwig, tears in his eyes. "Why won't he wake up?"

"He's sick, Fiver, he's got a fever. That's what we need these cloths for!" He held one up as an example. Fiver's mouth opened in an 'o' of understanding, and he quickly grabbed one of the cloths and started scrubbing his brother's forehead with it. "No, not like that!" Bigwig took the cloth back and showed Fiver how to hold it properly. "Do it like this. This'll cool him down in no time."

They worked for a few moments in silence, then Hazel started to shiver. "T-too c-c-cold."

Fiver pulled his cloth away, but Bigwig kept on, determined. "Sorry, Hazel. It's for the best."

Hazel's eyes opened slightly, just enough to see a slit of brown. "Why's it s-so c-c-cold, B-Bigw-wig?"

"You're sick, mate. We're trying to cool you down."

"Sick? Who's sick? Fiver 'kay?" Hazel didn't seem to comprehend anything beyond someone being sick. His struggles, which had ceased earlier, had now begun anew as Hazel tried to find who was sick. "Pipk'n? Dan'lion? Stra'b'ry?"

"They're all fine, idiot," Bigwig growled. "You're the one who's sick, probably from being out in the rain yesterday. Now calm down before you make yourself worse."

Hazel nodded faintly, eyes slipping closed again as he relaxed back into sleep. 

"He's asleep again, Bigwig!" Fiver sounded frantic. 

"Don't worry, he needs the rest, Fiver. Just keep going with the cloths." Fiver nodded, and they both continued, trying to cool Hazel's raging fever down. 

Just a few minutes later, Pipkin raced to the room, followed by Frith. "How is young Hazel?" Frith asked worriedly. 

"He's sick, sir. He's got a fever and won't wake up. Even when he does, he doesn't really make sense. I tried wet cloths, but they don't seem to help much." Bigwig looked away from Hazel towards Frith. "What else can we do?"

Frith thought for a moment, then nodded determinedly. "We have to cool him down somehow, so we'll try an ice bath. Pipkin, can you start filling the bath? Cold water please, as cold as you can get it. Fiver, go downstairs and get some ice. Do try not to wake Miss Hannah, she won't appreciate it. Bigwig, stay close. I might need your help."

As the younger boys raced off to do the tasks they were assigned, Fiver lingering for a moment before realising doing what he was told would help his brother best, Frith strode over to the bed and lifted Hazel up, blankets falling down around him. Carrying the sick boy, he made his way to the bathroom, Bigwig following behind in case he needed to help. 

Bigwig had forgotten how small Hazel actually was. He was the one that had led them all safely to Watership Down, kept them together in face of disaster, and still managed to look after them all now. Somehow, with all that, it was easy to forget he was still just eleven years old, and even a bit small for his age. Seeing him now, however, trembling feverishly in Frith's arms, he still looked like a child. 

They got to the bathroom without incident, and Frith carefully placed Hazel in the tub. To Bigwig's surprise, as soon as he touched the cold water, Hazel began to thrash and moan, twisting from side to side in an attempt to escape. However, Frith held him in the icy water, and soon the thrashing turned into shivering, and the moans grew softer, until they could barely be heard at all. 

Bigwig forced his eyes away from Hazel's shivers, and caught sight of Fiver standing in the corner, looking at his shivering brother with something close to horror on his face. "Don't worry, Fiver," he said, going over to the boy and wrapping an arm around him. "It'll be alright. Hazel's tough, he'll get through this just fine, you'll see."

Fiver nodded dully, but he still hadn't taken his eyes off his older brother. "He'll be fine," he whispered. "He'll be fine."

Bigwig just nodded, not sure what else to do. 

Fortunately, it was only a few minutes later that Frith lifted Hazel out of the bath and took him back to the bedroom, Bigwig and Fiver following closely behind. Frith carefully tucked Hazel into bed, then turned to the other two, motioning for then to be quiet. "The fever's broken," he whispered. "He just needs rest now. Fiver, how about you share with Pipkin and Bigwig tonight?"

Fiver crossed his arms and shook his head mutinously. "No. I'm sleeping in here, with Hazel."

"Fiver, your brother needs sleep. Can't you spend just this one night-" Seeing Fiver's steadfast scowl, Frith stopped. "Alright then Fiver, just go to bed, and try not to wake Hazel."

Fiver's scowl disappeared instantly as he scrambled back into the bedroom and under the sheets. From the look on his face, though, Bigwig was pretty sure Fiver would be curled up next to his brother seconds after they left. 

It seemed Frith recognized it too, as he opened his mouth as if to say something, then sighed. "Sleep well, Fiver, I'll see you in a couple of hours for breakfast."

For a moment, Bigwig was confused. All that, and it wasn't even breakfast time? Then he glanced out the window and saw the sun lifting over the horizon, the sky streaked with red. It really was that early. 

"-wig, you can go to bed as well," Bigwig heard Frith saying. 

"I'd really rather sleep in here with Hazel and Fiver," Bigwig tried, but Frith shook his head. 

"No, Bigwig, it's enough that Fiver is in there, two of you is too much disturbance. Go back to bed, in your own room."

Bigwig nodded unhappily and headed back to his room. Walking in, he saw that Pipkin's bed was empty, and the little boy was curled up in the middle of his bed instead, holding the blankets tightly even in his sleep, eyes red-rimmed and damp. Sighing wearily, Bigwig decided it wasn't worth the bother of trying to move Pipkin back into his own bed, and instead just lay down beside the boy. After all, he probably wouldn't sleep anyway, with all this excitement and... Bigwig's eyes slipped closed, and he was asleep before he realised it. 

A few hours later, Bigwig was woken by the feeling of fine strands of something tickling his nose. His eyes slowly blinking open, he saw a little head of blond hair curled up next to him on the bed. Pipkin had gradually moved closer during the last few hours, and now was cuddled up against him, one hand fisted in the older boy's shirt. 

Carefully, Bigwig began to ease Pipkin's fingers away from his shirt. Pipkin murmured in his sleep as his hand was uncurled, but thankfully did not wake up. Soon Bigwig could ease himself out of the bed, and did so gladly, before walking to the door. With one final glance at the little blond asleep on his bed, he left the room, carefully shutting the door behind him. 

Bigwig made his way next door to the room Fiver and Hazel shared. Cracking open the door, he peered inside. The first thing that caught his eye was the empty bed closest to the door. As he had thought, Fiver had not stayed in his bed for long. Cracking the door open a bit further, he saw a pair of blue, nearly purple eyes glaring sleepily at him from under the blankets on the other bed. "Go away," Fiver whispered, head peeking out from under the blankets. Despite the soft tone, his words carried easily through the quiet room. "You're not s'posed to wake him."

"I don't want to wake him, I just want to see how he's doing," Bigwig whispered back. 

Fiver seemed to consider this for a moment. "If I let you come in, will you be really quiet and not wake him up?"

Bigwig nodded, forgoing mentioning just how unlikely it would be that Fiver would actually be able to stop him if he decided to go in. Fiver hesitated a moment more, then told him to come in. 

Bigwig came in, settling on the bed beside the brothers. Looking closer, he saw Fiver looked anxious and on edge, as well as strangely guilty, as though he had forgotten to do something important. "What's the matter with you, kid?" Fiver looked down, but Bigwig shook his shoulder until their eyes met again. "What's wrong, Fiver?"

"It's my fault,"Fiver said softly, eyes tearing away from Bigwig's. "I should have seen it, I should have known! Hazel got sick because of me."

"Now, none of that." Bigwig awkwardly laid a hand on Fiver's shoulder. "I don't know how your visions work, but I know they don't work like that. You can't have known Hazel was going to get sick, and it isn't your fault. If it's anyone's, it's his own, for staying out in the rain like an idiot."

Fiver gave a little smile at that final sentence, moving himself a bit further into Bigwig's half hug. "Last year it was so wet, an' when Hazel an' I played in the mud puddles, Mummy said we were browner than the chocolate chips in her cookies."

For a moment it looked as though Fiver might cry, remembering his mother, but he was distracted by a croaky voice saying, "Then she made us wash off before dinner, or we'd be having mud for dessert."Hazel smiled at his brother, then let out an 'oof' as Fiver hugged him tight. "I'm alright," he said once he could breathe again. "I'm fine, Fiver, you can let go of me."

Fiver let go just long enough to tell him sternly, "You are never allowed to be sick again," then went back to hugging his brother, though slightly less tightly than before.   
Bigwig just sat back, feeling slightly awkward at the obvious show of affection in front of him. Finally, Fiver seemed contented that his brother was indeed better, and he snuggled up happily beside his brother, still not fully letting go, but holding on more loosely. Hazel took advantage of this to look at Bigwig, wordlessly telling him, 'thank you'. Bigwig wasn't sure what Hazel was thanking him for, but he nodded in acceptance anyway. 

Now that he wasn't so concerned about Hazel, Bigwig noticed that he was feeling rather hungry. Standing up from the bed, he said, "I'll just go get some breakfast, shall I? Don't suppose either of you want to come?"

"Fiver, why don't you go with Bigwig to get breakfast?" Hazel suggested. "I'll probably just fall asleep again, you might as well get yourself some food."

Fiver reluctantly nodded, and he and Bigwig made their way to the door. Just before leaving, however, Hazel called out, "Fiver!" Fiver turned around and Hazel fixed him with a serious look. "Remember, this was not your fault. You can't see everything."

Fiver smiled at him. "Okay, Hazel. I'll remember."

Bigwig rolled his eyes, exasperated, and perhaps a little relieved. Hadn't he just been telling the kid that? Well, as long as someone could get it through his head, he supposed it didn't matter much who did it. He slung an arm over Fiver's shoulders, dwarfing the smaller boy. "Come on, let's get some breakfast."


End file.
